Lifespan extension in female mice by early, transient exposure to adult female olfactory cues

Abstract

Several previous lines of research have suggested, indirectly, that mouse lifespan is particularly susceptible to endocrine or nutritional signals in the first few weeks of life, as tested by manipulations of litter size, growth hormone levels, or mutations with effects specifically on early-life growth rate. The pace of early development in mice can also be influenced by exposure of nursing and weanling mice to olfactory cues. In particular, odors of same-sex adult mice can in some circumstances delay maturation. We hypothesized that olfactory information might also have a sex-specific effect on lifespan, and we show here that the lifespan of female mice can be increased significantly by odors from adult females administered transiently, that is from 3 days until 60 days of age. Female lifespan was not modified by male odors, nor was male lifespan susceptible to odors from adults of either sex. Conditional deletion of the G protein Gαo in the olfactory system, which leads to impaired accessory olfactory system function and blunted reproductive priming responses to male odors in females, did not modify the effect of female odors on female lifespan. Our data provide support for the idea that very young mice are susceptible to influences that can have long-lasting effects on health maintenance in later life, and provide a potential example of lifespan extension by olfactory cues in mice.